Love me Bitterly, Loth me Sweetly
by PlayfulxPurple
Summary: To stress his point, Kouha orchestrates an argument between Judal and his apprentice. It quickly escalates to the point that Asha realizes just how much she means to him. Their relationship is toxic, but for some reason she can't help but be attracted to the Holy Terror.


As an apology for being away so long, I quickly typed this up - with the help of my muse - for all the die hard fans of Judal | Judar. Please enjoy!

The title of the fic is the title of the 51st volume of the Bleach manga, in which I do not own.

* * *

Asha hummed a jaunty tune and rotated the stem of a vibrate, star shaped flower between her thumb and forefinger. She was at last content, letting herself relax into the slender arms of the 3rd prince – Kouha – as he wove his fingers into her soft, dark hair. It felt delightful; perhaps because she was slightly drunk, or maybe because in the few short weeks of her stay in Rakushou she'd met somebody.

_He works in merchandise. The Kou Empire is one of the few stops in his line of work, _Asha reminded herself. A gentle frown pulled at her lips – he was so nice to her, even Kougyoku thought so. Asha adored him, but she also knew he was not shackled to the Empire like she was. Maybe that's why she went to see him quite often; he was a forbidden fruit. His stories were one of the many things Asha liked about him – aside from his beautiful smile. It was truly sad that he'd be leaving her soon. _Truly sad indeed. I shall ––_

Asha cried in sudden pain as her head was jerked back, stopping her thought. She peered over her shoulder and knotted her brows in confusion; Kouha gently laughed.

"You weren't paying attention to me," he merely said. "And I don't like being ignored."

The magician apologized, knowing well how merciless the young prince could be. She understood that it was rude to overlook him after inviting him to have a drink with her, but she honestly wanted to enjoy the peace without conversation – Koumei would have been a better choice, but like Kougyoku, he too was engaged. _It's not as if I like the others more than Kouha, it's just that he likes to provoke me a little too much. In fact, he seems to enjoy it; my unease._

Kouha grinned, as if knowing what the unfortunate teen was thinking. "How about a punishment, then? I could spank you."

_Who does he think I am? Surely he doesn't expect me to beg him like one of his attendants. _Asha felt her face heat up in embarrassment as she attempted to block the image from her mind. _Begging … me? How shameful. _"Your Highness I … don't think I'd like that much." _Pretty sure I wouldn't._

"No fun; that's what you are," Kouha declared with a frown. He raised a slender brow in question upon seeing the blossom in her hand. Frankly he'd never seen anything like it before. "That flower. Where did you get it?"

"A boy in the market gave it to me," she replied, rotating the stem between her thumb and forefinger again. "It's called a Starling. It comes from a special flowering shrub indigenous to the west."

Kouha pushed out his tongue and faked a gag – he saw the brief look of admiration flash across her face. "Gross; you have the hots for him. Best not to let Judal find out."

_The holy terror? How is that relevant? _Asha was unsure, other than the fact Judal was an ass. He seemed to enjoy taking advantage of her limitations; this exposure would be just another thing to ridicule her about. Kouha was right; best to keep it from him. She groaned in annoyance, but agreed regardless. "Doesn't make a difference if he manages to figure it out. My traveling merchant will be long gone before then and Judal will have nothing against me."

"Wanna see?"

Asha knotted her brows. "Pardon me? The idea was not to let him find out, remember?"

"I gave a suggestion; it wasn't meant to be a warning. Can't say for sure if you will enjoy the outcome, but I will." The eccentric prince stood up suddenly and dusted off his white shorts. He stared at Asha for a moment, then rolled his pink eyes in annoyance. "Come on. Get up."

The nervous teen followed his lead, ambling quietly behind as Kouha escorted her back into the palace. They passed by many of the guards and few of the royal family, but Asha had a bad feeling she already knew where the Prince was taking her. The alcohol in her system was not as strong as it had been hours ago; she barely felt it now. This meant she wasn't at all prepared for what Kouha had in mind.

Once they were in the courtyard, linking the Summit Hall and the Main House, the youngest prince aimed his attention at Asha, indicating with his finger the location of the High Priest; he was resting on the roof.

"The plan, Your Highness?"

Kouha wet his lips and grinned. "Follow my lead." He ushered Asha forward and steered her closer to Judal, keeping a firm grip on her upper arm. To Asha, it felt more like he was preventing her from bolting – unease filled her.

"There you are! I was looking for you." Kouha came to a sudden halt and yanked Asha forward, causing her to stumble and nearly fall into him. This got the Holy Priest's attention, urging Kouha to continue; grin on his face. "Brought your apprentice back. Found her slacking off in the Bazar with some merchant boy."

_He can't be serious. _"I wasn't slacking off, Young Prince. I wasn't studying either, but I also wasn't given a lesson plan for today."

Judal scoffed, "As if that gives you an excuse to laze about and do nothing. You have spells to learn that you still haven't managed to get right. Not to mention you've been ignoring your training."

"You try balancing everything you've given me to do," Asha argued. She kept her voice low, but the anger was clear in her voice. "I barely have time to sleep." This was true; her body wasn't nearly as prepared as she would have liked it to be. Directing magoi into magic was hard when she could barely keep her eyes open.

"Guess you don't care about your homestead much, do you? Or your family." Judal stood and floated down. He ignored the Prince and kept his attention on the angry woman in front of him. She obviously didn't read the situation well. This made him smile. "Wasn't it your brother who asked me to teach you magic? He was pretty desperate coming here instead of sending you to the magic academy."

Asha narrowed her eyes. "What's your point? Kamal didn't have much of a choice. I'd never learn magic in time to secure my homestead from the upcoming war."

Kouha huffed a sigh. "That's what he's referring to. Al-Hala is set to merge with the Kou Empire, but if it falls to the Graves before then, we'll have to eradicate it."

_Eradicate it? He can't be – no way Kamal would put so much responsibility on me. _But hadn't he? Asha chewed her bottom lip; this made more sense to her now. She allowed her tense shoulders to relax and bowed her head. "My apologies. I seem to have forgotten my place. I … hope that you can forgive me, High Priest."

Again Kouha smiled. His point was made; Judal reacted. It may not have been for the reason he'd hoped, but it happened just as he expected. His smile faded, glancing between the two. It wasn't half as fun to watch anymore, now that Asha had given up. He groaned and released her arm, crossing them over his chest. "Yeah … so I'm going to leave before this gets mushy. Have fun trying to keep her focused with that merchant boy on her mind." With this said, Kouha took his leave.

_Merchant boy? _Judal raised a brow. Kouha had mentioned him twice during their conversation and each time Asha looked it over. He shot a curious glance at her and noticed a flower in her grasp. _So it's true. _He grunted in annoyance. "Don't tell me you've been putting off your training to visit some boy."

"No," Asha retorted. "I just met him a few weeks ago. And so what if I visit him. It hasn't influenced my ability to do magic."

"That's pathetic, not to mention gross." Judal gestured with his head, "He give you that flower?"

Asha nodded, twirling the stem between her thumb and forefinger. A gasp of surprise left her suddenly once Judal grabbed the flower head, nearly breaking the stem. She watched as he studied it; fear of what was to come. Inevitably, he was going to crush it – she knew this.

"Just don't. I know what you're thinking," she groaned. Unavoidably it would die, but Asha wanted to keep the flower for as long as its life expectancy would allow it. This was the first nice thing she was given in a long time. What was so wrong about wanting to cherish it?

Judal puckered a brow, "You like this insignificant thing that much?"

"More than I like you," she snapped back. Asha knew she shouldn't have, but she couldn't help it. Judal always brought out the monster in her.

He truly didn't appreciate the attitude she was giving him. Not that he planned to give her back the damned thing, but he sure as hell wasn't going to let her off without a lesson now that she disrespected him. Lifting his arm, Judal held the flower out of her reach.

"Take it back then."

_He's such a pain. _Asha really didn't want to degrade herself, but she wanted it. She seethed at what she was about to do, but figured it was best to entertain him. Judal was sure to get bored of her and eventually go away if she complied. Idiocy was the only way to free herself from his teasing, as it had worked many times before, so Asha tried hard to make a fool of herself. She stood up on the tip of her toes and stretched her arm to reach up for the flower, bobbing up and down. Her fingers extended to their full extent, but she always came up short of grasping it.

"Darn it," Asha huffed. "Guess I won't be getting back the flower now."

His eyes of crimson went somber. "Don't fuck with me. I know you aren't trying."

Asha snorted in laughter. "Nothing gets passed you, all powerful Magi."

Unlike how she expected him to react, Judal merely smiled. He brought down his arm and shook the flower spitefully in front of her. It seemed like he was daring her to just reach out and take it.

"I'll shatter it with ice magic then, and do away with the pest who gave it to you. Would you like that?"

"Don't say such nasty things," Asha hissed. His dirty words always came out to play when she wasn't fazed by his antics. This angered her immensely.

"Better yet, I'll have you kill him." Judal began to laugh maliciously. "I can do that, you know? Order you to reduce him and his entire caravan to ash."

Asha had enough of this. Her eyes filled with warm, angry tears. In truth, the merchant boy meant nothing to her, but the more she thought about snuffing out his life for such an trivial reason, made her feel like no more than a pawn to the Empire. Asha could not allow Judal to pull her strings.

She sucked in a deep breath and uttered regretfully, "Entertain me for a moment."

"Pardon me." He puckered a brow. "I didn't catch that."

"Hear me out," she repeated. Her face became hot as she tried to explain her strange request better. "I want to compromise with you by playing a game."

"A game? And what terms?"

"I want to challenge you to a game of hide and seek" – she pretended to think for a moment – "As for the terms, I rule that neither of us is allowed to use magic of any kind on one another. And if I win, you let me learn from you at my own speed."

Judal allowed the information to sink in and rested his hands on his slender hips. So far the idea didn't sound so terrible to him, but he needed to make sure before agreeing. "If I win? What do I get from this deal?"

Honestly, she hadn't even thought about it. She wasn't going to let him win, so offering him something in returned seemed pointless. Yet, she agreed that in order to sway him she must do this. "I … will allow you to teach me in whatever fashion suits you. Maiming or killing someone is not allowed, however."

"Are you being serious?" He rolled his eyes in annoyance. "This game doesn't sound like much of a challenge to me. How are you going to make it fair?"

Asha chewed at the skin on the inside of her jaw. "I can't say, but I can show you."

At this point, it was do or be made to obey without complaint. Asha couldn't imagine the horrors that he'd put her through, so losing was not an option.

Besides, requesting that Judal hand over his wand was out of the question. He'd never agree to it, and so, Asha was left with no other option but to take the weapon by influence alone.

So she tried.

She resolved to make this quick and moved into the space between them, pressing the palm of her right hand flat against his chest. The wand was in his choli, if memory served her right. She just needed to keep his mind busy while her fingers explored.

Asha hesitantly leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on his collarbone, taking pleasure in the fact that he allowed her to do so. She remembered Kouha once telling her that the Empire coddled Judal from the time of his reign; he learned nearly all of his information about the opposite sex from his retainers. With this in mind, she chose to test him.

"Have you ever been kissed before?"

Asha slid her fingers beneath his choli as she locked eyes with him.

His expression was bored. "What the hell are you playing at?"

"I'm not playing," she uttered. Her lips found his neck – his warm skin smelled like fresh peaches. "Will you not humor me?"

Judal said nothing, and for a moment Asha feared that her scheme wouldn't succeed. But, thankfully that wasn't the case. He took her face and leaned back her head, staring into her dark brown eyes.

"Humor you? Do you have any idea what you're saying, little pet?"

With an ease she didn't expect, he kissed her. Asha was stunned at first – his lips were soft and rather sweet – but reminded herself that she was in control; this was her plan. Kissing him with equal force, she moved her hand up his chest. A sigh of content left her as she found the wand, touching the smooth metal with the tip of her fingers.

Eagerly she grabbed it before the kiss could escalate. Asha pulled herself back and wiped her mouth on the sleeve of her yukata. A smirk curled her lips; Judal was none too pleased.

"I'm sorry, but I do not trust you to play fair. I have to know that you won't cheat," she explained.

"Run."

Asha was baffled. She puckered her brow and tightened her grip on the wand. "Pardon me. I don't ––

"I said run," Judal reiterated. His eyes peered at her with serious intention; with anger. "Now go."

She didn't have to be told twice. Asha ran like her life depended on it; unsure of where to hide. Nowhere was safe in Rakushou, but without his wand, she doubted that Judal could find her, much less stop her without cheating. The frightened teen quickly decided on a place and locked herself behind the safe confines of her bedchamber door.

How right she was; nowhere was safe.

"I found you, little pet."

Asha yelped in fear and spun around to face him. The window she thought she had locked was open, and Judal himself was sitting on the edge. She was quick to lay blame, pointing a slender finger in his direction. "You cheated; you must have. There is no way you could have found me so quickly."

He stared at her for a moment in annoyance and dropped his firm shoulders. She clearly was a novice; his novice, but one no less. "I am a Magi, so I can see the rukh. It wasn't hard to find you."

_I entirely forgot. _The game was set in his favor from the beginning. Asha felt like an idiot for suggesting something in which she knew she could not win. Her eyes narrowed in defeat.

This made him laugh. "There it is; that look I enjoy seeing the most from you. It's cute when you think you've outsmarted me."

"It matters not," Asha stated with a snap. "You promised that no one would get hurt if I were––

"Do you not get it yet?"

Asha was confused – _get what?_

"You are not in control of your own fate," Judal continued. He moved closer to her. "So what makes you think anything you say has weight here?"

Something about the way he said this ignited a fire in her. Asha could not stand how sure he was about everything; sure about his magic and sure about his words. The way he made her feel was unnerving. She hated it.

"You are a spoiled brat," she barked. "Just because my brother put me in your care does not mean you owe me. I am a guest to the Empire. Lord Kouen has say over me; not you."

He began to laugh. Without her consent, the dark Magi reached out and took her arm. Her entire body was pressed against his in a flash.

"You actually believe that, don't you?"

At her unwavering expression, he rolled his eyes. "So what. That man could care less what becomes of you. I could easily wipe you from this world and he wouldn't even lift a finger to save you."

Asha bit her lip. The way his body felt against hers – so warm and inviting – made her judgement unclear. She admitted her defeat without even trying to fight back. He was right after all. It took a favor – unknown to her – to get her this far; in this mock security.

_If this is what he wants, then so be it. _

"Do what you will. I have barely enough strength to argue with you day in and day out. Nothing said or done will matter," she clarified with a sigh.

The holy terror smiled. He lifted her face and stared down at her. For a small thing, she was rather cute – he couldn't help but to think. The way her skin reddened under his gaze made her look vulnerable.

"Being mine won't be so bad, now will it?"

Asha didn't say anything. She just allowed him to lean in and kiss her warm lips. Maybe he was right; maybe being his wouldn't be so bad.

Hesitantly, she kissed him back.


End file.
